Chapter 192: Whispered Shadows
The Hollow groaned under its own weight. The council worked tirelessly, rationing grain, expanding tunnels, assigning new labor every dawn. And still, cracks spread like veins through stone—quiet quarrels over food, exhausted families sharing cramped bedding, whispers of discontent that Saekaros's watchful eyes couldn't always silence.
Kael bore it all with a stoic face, but inside, he felt the pressure building. Each new day brought both triumph and strain—like two wolves locked in an endless fight.
The Quiet Meeting
It was late, the Hollow hushed under the glow of scattered lanterns. Most slept. A few fires burned low where guards kept watch. Kael slipped away from the longhouse and climbed the narrow stairs to one of the outcroppings that overlooked the cavern floor.
There, waiting as he had asked, were Thalos and Varik. The elder soldier leaned against the stone, arms folded, while Thalos sat with his back against the wall, sharpening his blade even though it hardly needed it.
"Kael," Varik greeted with a small nod. "You've been walking heavy these past days. Thought we'd see this coming."
Kael gave a wry smirk but didn't answer right away. He gazed down into the Hollow—the glow of torches painting hundreds of sleeping forms, the faint sounds of children murmuring in dreams, of restless bodies shifting on stone.
"They keep coming," Kael finally said, his voice low. "And we keep stretching thinner. I don't regret opening the gates. Never will. But…" He exhaled slowly. "We are not endless. Our supplies are not endless."
Thalos set down his whetstone with a sharp clack. "Say what you're dancing around, Kael."
Kael's jaw tightened. "If we cannot sustain them—if it comes to it—we may need to take from others. Villages, caravans, smaller settlements that can't match us. Not as conquerors, but as thieves. Just until we have a hold on this population."
The words hung heavy in the air.
Varik's brow furrowed, his hand tightening on the hilt of his axe. He didn't look angry—more like the words cut something deep in him.
Thalos was the first to answer, his voice like stone. "I won't lie—it's not a thought far from my mind. You're right, Kael. We can't feed six hundred forever if the harvest doesn't come soon enough. But robbing innocents? That makes us no different from those who hunted us. And I'll not lead my men down that road unless it's the last one left."
Varik grunted in agreement. "Thalos is right. We are already feared for what we are—beastkin, daemon-blooded, outcasts. If word spreads we're bandits too, no alliance or treaty will ever trust us again. We'd damn the Hollow before it even stood on its legs."
Kael nodded slowly, his expression unreadable. "I know. That's why it hasn't been spoken of until now. But I'll not let us starve blind while pretending the option doesn't exist. If it comes to that, I will trust the two of you to see it done—not the council, not anyone else. Just you. Only if it is necessary."
Thalos leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "You trust us with this because you know we'll argue against it until the very last moment."
Kael's lips twitched. "Exactly."
For a long moment, silence reigned, broken only by the faint drip of water echoing in the cavern.
Finally, Varik let out a heavy sigh. "Then we pray the harvest comes, and trade holds strong. Because I'll do many things for the Hollow, Kael—but I don't want blood on my hands that doesn't need spilling."
Thalos picked up his whetstone again, dragging it across his blade with a slow scrape. "If the day comes, we'll do what must be done. But not one heartbeat before."
Kael's Reflection
When the meeting ended, Kael remained on the outcropping, staring at the Hollow below. The air smelled of smoke and earth, the hum of hundreds of lives filling the cavern.
He thought of the children calling Azhara beautiful, of the music that had filled the streets nights before, of the hope glowing in people's eyes.
And he thought of the hunger, the cramped shelters, the bitterness that could fester if left unchecked.
Prosperity and hardship, he reminded himself. Two sides of the same coin.
But now another truth pressed in on him: shadows grew longer when the light shone brightest.
And Kael knew he would have to walk in them, if only to shield the Hollow from the worst of what was coming.